Elevator Talk
by Luna Cat Kitty
Summary: Ozai and Hakoda both get stuck in an elevator during a power outage and find out that they have more in common than they think.  Modern AU fic. Drabble.


**Something to kill writer's block with.  
>Prompt was "Stuck in an elevator".<strong>

**Reviews would be awesome. :D**

**I own nothing.**

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><p>The tall man entered the elevator and pushed the buttons to get to his desired destination. Music played in the small space. The man leaned against the far wall and closed his eyes and waited. The elevator was small and stuffy. Also hot. Ozai was sure that the people were too cheap to put some form of cooling system in the stuffy metal boxes.<p>

_Ding, ding, ding._

The man unclosed his eyes and watched the metal doors open to reveal a shorter, tan man who walked in. The man smiled and greeted the grumpy Ozai who was now standing in a far corner. All he could do was nod in return. He moaned slightly. It was hot. Too hot, even for him.

Ozai's eyes closed once again. He sighed in annoyance and continued to ignore the tan man who he shared the small space with. Ozai opened one of his eyes lazily and glanced at the other body in the elevator. He was fiddling with his phone and holding a booklet with his other hand. The goateed man closed his eye once again and let out a sigh.

He was about to drift off into a slumber when the ground suddenly began to shake. Ozai caught himself on the rail that was on the wall as he let out a surprised gasp. The other man did the same on the other side of the confined space. For a few split seconds their eyes met after the elevator stopped moving all together. The man opposite of Ozai made his way to the doors and began to manually open them. Ozai growled at the inconvenience that the elevator caused him. His company looked at him and shook his head. Ozai simply raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

The tan man sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Brick wall."

Ozai growled once again. He hated elevators. He noticed the darker toned man fiddle with his phone once again. A frown crossed his face.

"Power's out across town."

Ozai wanted to hit something. Surely it wasn't true. He hopped it wasn't. Perhaps he heard wrong.

"What?"

The other man answered once again. "The power went out."

"What!" Ozai yelled in realization.

"Yeah. Apparently there's a big blizzard that kicked up. Power will be out for a few hours." The dark skinned man pocketed his phone.

Ozai's eyebrow twitched. He hated snow and anything that had to do with it. Now it had to go and trap him in this metal box with some stranger he could care less for.

An awkward silence fell over the odd pair. Ozai got out his phone and texted his wife that he would be late for dinner. He sighed once again. He was going to be here for quite a while.

"I'm Hakoda, by the way."

Ozai glanced over to Hakoda and sighed. If he was going to be stuck with this person for a while, they might as well get familiar with each other.

"Ozai."

"Nice to meet you."

"Mm hm." He didn't feel like talking much, especially considering he was sure he felt the temperature raise a few degrees.

Another awkward silence.

"Well, at least I don't have to hear my kids fight over what's for dinner tonight." Hakoda said, trying to brighten up the mood. "Something good may come out of this."

Ozai was silent for a while. Finally he spoke. "I don't have to be stuck in the same room as my father."

Hakoda raised an eyebrow. "It can't be that bad, now."

Ozai turned his head and looked Hakoda square in the face. "You can't even imagine."

They heard the old building creak as a strong gust of wind blew. Hakoda propped the doors open slightly to let in some of the cooler air.

Hakoda looked at Ozai and raised an eyebrow. "You don't look like the type that would live at home with your parents."

Ozai grumbled to himself. "I'm not."

Hakoda exhaled and sat on the floor. "Must be nice. Living alone without anyone to bother you." He stopped. "Not that my family isn't the greatest thing in my life, I love them, but…"

"But you want to line them up and shoot them. Execution style."

Hakoda stared blankly at his acquaintance. "Well…"

"They annoy you." Ozai paused. "I'm pretty sure my pathetic excuse for a family is much worse."

Hakoda looked at Ozai, who eventually slumped down onto the floor. "I'm sure they can't be that bad now."

Ozai returned the glance and sighed. "For starters my father has a tendency to denounce everything I attempt to do."

Hakoda chuckled. "My mother always wants things done her way. It can't be that bad though."

Ozai continued. "My brother dearest is the fuddy duddy favorite who is obsessed with tea. I'm surprised his son isn't like that already."

Hakoda couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sensing some jealousy towards your brother. You two probably get along just fine on normal occasions."

Ozai stared blankly at Hakoda. "How exactly did you come to this conclusion of yours anyway?"

Hakoda shrugged. "I have kids. It goes both ways."

Ozai rolled his eyes. "Yet, you seem to have that only child mentality."

Hakoda shrugged once more. "At least you don't have to deal with kids arguing about what game to play on Wii Sports."

"Bowling." Ozai replied. "It's always bowling."

Hakoda gave Ozai a confused look.

"I have kids myself. It's always bowling. If it's not bowling, it's something on tea. If it's not tea related, it's about some long dead Chinese Dynasty. If it's not that then it's…" Ozai paused. "Lu Ten isn't predictable. No one knows what goes through his head."

Hakoda let out a haughty laugh. Ozai just stared blankly.

"What?"

"Reminds me of my family." Hakoda said through his laughter. "My kids argue about _everything_. It gets old listening to arguments about Dancing with the Stars and Top Shot."

"I _hate_ Dancing with the Stars. My wife loves it."

Hakoda let out a chuckle. "Try being in a house where two people, women actually, enjoy it more than any sane person should."

Ozai nodded in agreement.

"So, you work on the top floor?" Hakoda inquired.

"Unfortunately."

"Really? I never saw you around up there."

"My office is by the window."

"That explains it." Hakoda was silent for a few moments. Finally he spoke. "So, Bato, Tyro, and I have a 'coffee schedule'. We each have a day to buy coffee for each other. Want to be a part of it?"

Ozai shrugged. "People say I need to interact with other's more. It wouldn't hurt."

Hakoda smiled. "Great!"

"Almost as great as being out of this metal coffin." Ozai sighed. He elbowed the wall behind him for emphasis.

As if on cue, the elevator began to shake slightly and the lights brightened. It began to go down to the first floor as it was originally intended to. Both Ozai and Hakoda stood up and discussed their new 'coffee schedule' in more detail. The doors opened and they each quickly rushed out of the small elevator before the doors closed once more. They nodded their farewells and went their separate ways.


End file.
